Everyday dishes - porcelain, bone china or Corelle

GWloloMarch 11, 2013

I have a rather ignorant question to ask --> What is the difference between usability, microwave heatability, and dishwasher cleanability of Porcelain, fine Bone China and Glass dishes like Corelle. I am looking for white everyday dishes that are lightweight and stack flat. Corelle is great for how light it is but I wonder is porcelain and Bonechina will be equally good. Do bone china and porcelain get too hot in the microwave or get those crazing lines.

Ideally I would like to get 24 of everything to avoid disposables - dinner plates, salad plates, dessert plates, soup/ cereal bowls. I have a couple of deep heavy duty drawers planned for dishes. If they stack flat, I can fit more. Also bone china and porcelain seem to be easier to dress up and down than Corelle.

Bone china is generally super durable and with no metallic rim it's dishwasher and microwave safe -- but isn't it, like, at least ten times the price of Corelle, so wouldn't budget drive that decision?

I think plain white Corelle looks great, especially their all-white rimmed collections like Vive, but if you're a china person, I mean, it's not that. I have been considering picking up Corelle service for 12 but I might have to pick up a divorce first since DH doesn't appreciate my dish hoarding. I just started on Fiestaware and it's slightly--ok, really--addictive (but of course meets none of your criteria, heavy and not space saving).

The bone china will hold up for decades, and will go on looking great. I have used a set of plain white Lenox every day for over 15 years, family of four with two teenage boys and their numerous friends, not a single chip or scratch in all that time. Worth every dime. My stack of twelve dinner plates stacks in just 3 1/8 inches. If you live within driving distance of a Lenox factory outlet, I'm told they have incredible bargains from time to time!

My few Corelle serving bowls and trays are real workhorses too, but IMHO they don't look quite as nice when you want to dress things up.

I too was looking for everyday white dishes, and ended up with the Ikea 365+ dishes. Love them. And the price can't be beat. So, if I or family members drop one, I won't shed a tear, the way I would (freak out) if I dropped a Rosenthal bone china dish.

I looked at Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Pier 1 and some others. The Ikea 365+ dinnerware is half the price or less of those. An 18-piece set is $35 (we bought two sets). There's plenty of individual stock too.

But even setting aside Ikea's amazing price, the dinnerware was perfect for us. It's actual feldspar porcelain. Not made in China either, if that matters to you. It microwaves great too. It has a rim, which was one of my requirements, so that saucy things can't slosh out,

One thing no one thinks of is how the dishes will fit in the dishwasher. I've had dishes that aren't very flat, and/or are very thick, and they took up a lot of room in the DW. I adore Fiestaware, and have a few individual pieces. But they don't fit in my DW that well. The Ikea 365+ dishes are somewhat flat, so they fit in the tynes of our DW easily, and we can really squeeze a bunch of them into our DW with everything coming out clean.

I have to mention that the Ikea 365+ is very plain, but I add interest with serving pieces from Fiestaware, Sur La Table, etc. Looks great on my holiday tables as well as for everyday.

As to Corelle, I know people love them, but I don't think the new ones are made the way the old ones were. I was at a friend's who had new Corelle dishes. She dropped one, and it shattered in a million tiny shards. Seriously razor-sharp shards. Much worse than if you dropped porcelain dishes and had the porcelain shatter. The experience turned me off to Corelle.

I asked some questions about sturdy, affordable dishes a few months ago and got a lot of helpful responses. The link to the thread is below.

(I was able to find a few Corelle pieces and some of the wooden style bowls, as well as an enamelware bowl at a thrift store that tided us over for a bit and gave me a chance to test drive the different styles. So, I haven't plunged into the "big decision" yet.)

We've had a set of white porcelain dishes from Crate and Barrel for the last 9.5 years. They weren't cheap, at least by my standards. I've purchased three or four new dinner plates, and I think we started with four or six of everything. I'm now down to two bowls, two salad plates and four dinner plates, and at least two of those are pretty scratched up. Chipping has been the major problem (I can only think of one or two items that were dropped and broke that way). I prefer a thinner edge on a plate and I'm sure that is part of the problem. Still, I think I'm going to spend a little extra and get a set of white bone china for everyday dishes when I replace it in hopes that they will wear better.

We use plain white Corelle as our everyday dishes. You're not going to find anything that stacks in less space than Corelle, and of course they're more durable than anything short of plastic. Somehow I did manage to chip a plate though. Nobody is going to be fooled into thinking that Corelle is china or porcelain though.

We use Lenox every day too. We have the Butterfly meadows set, and we also have a formal set (Pearl Platinum). Both have held up wonderfully when used in dishwasher, microwave, etc. I second the Lenox outlet, the prices are great (although actually for the original set of dishes, we got the best price at Boscovs).
We got a service for 8 of the lenox pearl platinum on eBay for a fraction of the full cost we paid for our original service for 8 (we now have a set of 16). There are lots of good china deals on ebay for the good stuff. Craigslist too, maybe, for people getting rid of full sets of formal dishes they no longer use.

I love the looks of Lenox but have never tried one. We have Corelle and I love it - it is so light and virtually unbreakable. At one point, I got tired of having the same dishes for years, so I tried replacing it but - two other sets later - went back to it. Porcelain is just too heavy for me and most China chips and breaks too easy (we have very hard floors). Plus, most other dishes do not fit the DW as well as our (very flat) Corelle plates do.

I found out that Corelle plates and bowls have no lead or any other harmful stuff but the mugs do contain "a little" (lead, I think). I don't like their mugs anyway (too small) and rarely use them, so that is not a big deal. Keep that in mind if you are buying a set. It is also possible that mine are old and the newer ones have no such stuff.

I like white Corelle. Is it drop dead gorgeous, no, but it makes everyday so easy. You can unload a huge stack of plates from the DW at one time because they are so light. They fit in the DW so easily and large quantities take up very little space in your cabinet or drawer.. My young kids can take a stack of plates and set the table no problem again because they are so light weight. If one does break or chip, replacing it will never be a problem. They'll never discontinue the line of all white.

I love my white corelle. Mine has a nice trim around the rim, also in white but adding texture. I think it's great for every day - but it actually looks nice on a festive table when we are entertaining. I'm a sucker for white tableware, though.

I have white corelle for the large dinner plates and square small plates, and then get funky, fun bowls/mugs in interesting shapes which have to be replaced from time to time.

I went through this recently and looked the options you've mentioned, shopped online, and looked in numerous stores (Crate & Barrel, Macy's, Kohl's, IKEA, JCPenny's, Target, etc.). Nothing is going to be a thin and light as Corelle, but it was really too thin and light for me. If you decide on something heavier than Corelle, I'm going to suggest you get what I did since you mentioned you wanted to buy 24 of everything: vitrified porcelain from a restaurant supply source. It is safe for the dishwasher, microwave, oven, and freezer. I got the Tuxton Alaska Wide Rim Bright White China. You can buy it buy the case at WEBstaurant or buy it by the case or by the piece at Bryan China.

I have Ikea 365+ porcelain in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. It's only been 8 months, but I have no chips or scratches, and I accidentally bang it on the granite every once in a while. It is microwave safe, but not oven safe. I used to have stoneware that could go in either. I would say the weight is medium. I have 12-14 place settings and supplement it with cute plastic stuff I can use outdoors or for kids when I'm having a big party. I also got inexpensive Ikea flatware for lunchboxes and parties. I stopped using disposables a while back.

i just made the switch to corelle after all my crate and barrel bowls started getting chipped. i dont think it looks nice enough for fancy occasions though. but for everyday, it is quite convenient. And i can let my toddlers have "real" plates and bowls (we had been using plastic and stainless steel for them before and they notice the difference). i wish they made the same corelle material for cups and mugs too, but it seems the cups are only heavy stoneware. for the price of corelle, you can probably get corelle for everyday and something nicer for special occasions.

We had Corelle for our prior set of dairy dishes. (We keep kosher so we have one set for milk and another for meat meals.) I wasn't happy with the durability of them. They are fine at first but like many glass products, over time as they gather invisible scratches they become more fragile. Occasionally I've had one crack in the dishwasher (despite careful loading). Many got chips over time too. I think the set lasted for less than 10 years.

Our meat dishes are Mikasa Ultima (I don't think they make that line any more unfortunately) and have been incredibly durable. They have no metal rim and are microwave and dishwasher safe. We've been using the same set for over 20 years so it has survived 3 teenage boys and their friends. They are not heavy, perhaps slightly more than the corelle.

We have a set of Studio Nova china dishes (one has to be careful because some of their stoneware looks very like the china but doesn't last nearly as well) that we bought to replace the corelle and its been holding up well. They came in boxes of service for 4, were inexpensive and even have nice size mugs.

So based on our experience, porcelain china can be more durable than corelle.

I really wanted Corelle for ease of use and its light weight but fell in love with Pottery Barn Emma which are ceramic and a bit heavier. I really LOVE them, but wish they were lighter. I also sanded around the bottoms with a block so they wouldn't scratch my wood island top as easy.

On a bright summer day in 1991 my daughter was enjoying a sippy cup in her high chair while I unloaded the dishwasher. As I reached to place the 12 stacked corelle plates my sister had talked me into getting a couple monthes earlier, one caught the bottom of the shelf and I dropped them all on the floor.....It was like an explosion!!
My daughter screamed, the vinyl floor was covered in shards.
Tiny, needle-like shards. I was barefoot ... and bloody by the time I got to the vacuum. My daughter stayed in the high chair for the next hour crying and scared to death. It was the only safe place on the first floor!
I called the company. They replaced the plates. I boxed them up with the rest of the set and they are still out in the barn.
I went out and bought a set of white stoneware at Target that we still use. Only a few bread plates missing.
My sister still has her Corelle that she loves.
My daughter had nightmares for months, but now likes Corelle.
She's getting the box from the barn for a first apt. surprise :)

I was bored with my corelle after using it for years. So I splurged and got a new set of Mikasa stoneware. I love the bowls and mugs with the Mikasa. But I find the dinner plates way too big and heavy. So I am back to using my corelle for most regular meals.

But I do use the Mikasa bowls for pasta and cereal. It seems like the corelle bowls are way too small. I also use the Mikasa mugs everyday because they are so big and pretty.

I am with Gone South. After 15 years of stoneware, I am sick of the chips. I am getting restaurant-quality porcelain dinnerware from a restaurant supply store. I am pretty sure I am going with an Oneida line (one that is made in Germany). The only downside is that it comes by the case. A case of dinner plates is no problem, as it comes 12 to the case, and I want 12 settings. But the smaller plates come 24 or even 36 to the case. Even so, this will cost less than something at WS or Sur La Table (but more than I ever thought I would pay for dinnerware!). If I can talk my sister into getting the same pattern, my costs go way down as I can split the cases of smaller plates, bowls, and mugs with her.

Even though they are heavy and bulky, I do have to say I love my Fiestaware. We've had other imitations and other types of dinnerware -- one similarly marketed set of dishes got hot in the microwave and chipped easily. The real stuff stays cool in the micro and resists accidentally collisions with a granite counter edge.

We had a set of older Corelle that we just got rid of in our pre-renovation garage sale. It was great to see a lady so happy to purchase the remaining dishes to complete her set.

My mom had the original Corelle in the 1970s. It did not break often, but when it did, not only did you have to deal with the tiny needle-like shards, but if you watched carefully, the bits actually jumped up and down for a few seconds after hitting the floor!

My first DH had grown up using melamine dishes. As young marrieds, we had Corelle. Once, when washing dishes after a friend had us over for a special meal, first DH dropped a dish, and it broke. He was aghast! What was wrong with her dishes? They were defective! He had no idea that most people's dinnerware could break. One day, that friend and I were in a pottery store and I found pottery dinnerware on a deep clearance sale. As a gag gift, I got DH a set of breakable dishes for Christmas. Poor guy saw the two heavy boxes under the tree and convinced himself I had gotten him a computer. Boy, was he disappointed!

I went with white china from a restaurant supply store. I had to buy in bulk, but it was cheaper than buying 8 place settings from Williams-Sonoma. Five years later, no chips and no grey marks like I had on my old pfaltzcraft. It is not light though. It is reasonable to store, but not as thin as something like corelle would be.

Thanks for all the feedback. I am looking at all of the brands recommended on this thread. I also went to crate and barrel to check and it was nice but not as light as I expected. The interesting thing was that the lady there insisted that it was bone china and same as lenox. We do not have a Lenox outlet near here so I have to check to see if Macy's or Bloomies has them. The restaurant supply sources are interesting but they again seem to be heavier than what I would prefer. Pottery barn ceramic is very pretty but much too heavy.

On a different note, - this is wierd but my post from yesterday seems to have been deleted. I did not post anything that would trigger user terms or wierd. Hmm..

I got a nice set of white china plates at Sam's club last year around this time. They are light weight (and I hope durable but I got them for Passover use so they will only be used one week per year so I can't go by my experience). You might check there or Costco. They only had one kind of set, but it had good mugs and was a pleasing simple shape and inexpensive.

I am going to be looking for new Everyday dishes in the near future. DH got me nice dishes to replace the dshes we got on our registry. We had a plainish white Nautica (through Pfaltzgraff). Wanted a change and some color.
Got another set of Pfaltgraff and they are terrible. SOOO many chips and they get VERY hot in microwave - even only a short amount of time.
Looked up reviews after experiencing and they do nothing for you and tell you to space things out in dishwasher. More than half of each type of dish has cracks. It was a set of 12 too.
I think we might have to go Correlle next time.

My everyday dishes are Villeroy and Boch Porcelain. No chips but we broke one bowl in 2 stages over the past 18 years. My DH "creased" it and when I was putting things into my new kitchen it broke into 2.
The porcelain is MW and DW safe but not oven safe.

I bought some inexpensive (in comparison) WS pantry plates and bowls - these are oven safe, so use in my new speed oven when I want to warm the plates or cook using the speed function.

My gorgeous Rosenthal Magic Flute dishes from my parents are safe in the DW but not in the oven or MB as they have gold trim but the trim is under the final layer - so can go in the DW.

I planned to buy some Corelle as we had that as a kid - but never quite got around to it. - and they can shatter if you drop them just right - they snap, crackle, pop for about 5 minutes and then just clean up the mess.

I grew up with Corelle and had Corelle myself for many years, but just tired of the pattern. I now have dinnerware from Oneida that I love. Oneida Culinaria in A La Mode. I have the square plates, but looks like they are currently offering only round plates in this pattern. I've used them daily for the past 2 years with no chips, knife marks, or breakage. They are durable and easy to hold. Love them. Switched over from Pfaltzgraff stoneware which were way too large to fit in my 12 inch cabinets or my dishwasher and seemed to chip if you just looked at them!!! Oneida also offers 20% off frequently and has a variety of different styles available online. They are currently running a 20% off special on entire orders through March 20th.

I second what Oldbat2be said. Apilco (And Pillvuyt) are excellent for durable quality china. It is my understanding that Apilco makes many high end restaurant dishes, although the woman at Williams Sonoma was offended when I suggested that.

And I like Oldbat's Beaded Hemstitch a lot. I was tempted to buy Beaded Hemstitch plates to ''dress up'' our plain white porcelain/china that I have picked up here and there.

Do you have a Home Goods nearby? I bought a few pieces of a charming Roscher (another restaurant quality china) white with stark black branches and winter birds for pennies. Currently my fav winter morning coffee mug. I am sipping from it as I type.

And here's a link to another Roscher set at Macy's. This is their Hotel Collection. Again, I find these tempting. Great price. Worth a trip to Macy's, if you have one nearby.

Bone china is a type of porcelain. It is stronger /more durable than regular porcelain. Either one will shatter if dropped onto a granite countertop or a tile floor. Dropped onto a wooden table or a laminate floor, your results may vary.

If you want it for everyday use, one thing to avoid is metal rims (because those dishes can't be placed in the microwave, and they don't hold up to daily dishwasher use). This might not be a real issue; I think metal rims are dropping out of popularity, but they used to be very popular with the nicer stuff.

As for Corelle, I'm going to be the voice of dissention. I don't love it. I know it's supposed to be essentially unbreakable, but it's so thin that it has a "flimsy" feel. On a table, it looks unsubstantial. It seems like something for a college apartment or a just-starting-out home. I do have a small set for our camper, and I bought some to contribute to our staff room at work, but I don't care for it at home.

To give the devil its due, one big positive for Corelle is that it's been around for ages and is likely to continue to be available; thus, assuming you go with the basic white pattern, you can count on adding to it for years to come. In contrast, similarly priced plates from Target or Ikea will change a bit in size/style as the years go by.

What do I have myself?

When we were married 23 years ago we got a set of Pfaltzgraff stoneware, which I love. It's not at all what you were asking for, OP, because it's thick and heavy. I can say, however, that 23 years ago I had a dozen plates . . . and today I still have a dozen chip-free plates. The cereal bowls are another story; about half of them have chips, and we've broken a few here and there. Bowls in my other sets have suffered more heavily than the plates too, so I'm inclined to think that curved dishware just doens't have the lifespan that a flat plate has. One big plus to Pfaltzgraff: They offer loads of "extra pieces": Serving platters in all sizes, custard cups, au gratin dishes . . . the list goes on.

I also have a set of Fiestaware, which is compatible to the Pfaltzgraff. They're both very heavy dishes, so they do take up space in the cabinets and dishwasher. They're holding up wonderfully well.

I also have a set of Johnson Brother's china. When I was growing up, ALL my family had Johnson Brother's. They're a nice, middle-of-the-road manufacturer. They are substantial and hold up well to daily use, but they aren't so expensive that you feel you should hold a funeral for a broken piece. They're somewhere between Corelle and the heavy stoneware in terms of weight and thickness. As a child, I know we broke a few pieces of my mother's Johnson Brother's, but it wasn't flimsy.

I have a set of Spode Christmas Tree, which is rather like the Johnson Brother's in terms of weight and thickness. I've never damaged a piece, but -- in all fairness -- they don't receive the hard day-to-day use that the sets mentioned above recieve.

Finally, I have two sets of fine china, which really don't come into this discussion.

A little off-topic, but I would avoid Rachel Ray products. I bought a set of six "Bubble and Brown" individual ramekins. Having a couple Diabetics in the family, I like to bake things in individual dishes; it allows them to keep control of exactly how many carbs they're eating -- no question about whether it was a big or a small scoop of casserole. Anyway, the ramekins are really cute, but I got them through the mail and one arrived already broken -- it was replaced. I've had them a year now, and two more are already broken. They have a porcelain feel to them, but they're thin and clearly not quality. I will not buy anything else from her line.

Bellsmom, is the Hotel Collection made by Roscher? I've never seen that. I'd tried to guess who it was made by and had a different guess. I know the birds and branches items you are talking about too, I was going to suggest Home Goods, but you would probably have to shop multiple stores and have a certain amount of good luck to get 24. Hotel Collection would be no problem to get 24, whether you buy them all at once or build the set. .

I have the Hotel Collection from Macy's. I bought it on sale for about half price and opened a credit account to get an additional 20% off. It was a great deal on bone china, and I love them. I have used them as everyday dishes with two teen boys, their friends and parties, nieces and nephews and other extended family at multiple gatherings and a DH who is not exactly gentle on dishes. Not one chip. Unlike two sets before (porcelain and stoneware) that chipped like crazy. Also unlike those two previous sets, I trust the Hotel Collection in the microwave. They fit easily in the DW. They are thinner than stoneware or Fiesta and probably most porcelain. I have a stack of 16 on my shelf and could probably fit 24. And after years of use, they feel and look as nice as the day I got them.

Writersblock said porcelain was more durable than bone china, but it is actually the other way around. Bone china is typically lighter weight so many people think it is more delicate. You should be able to see light through it, and it probably will feel more delicate, but it is the strongest. It tends to be more expensive, and often in more ornate or formal patterns. The Hotel Collection and others out there now make it practical for everyday use. Affordable, luxurious feel, durable, and a wide selection of pieces so you can pick the sizes and shapes you like best. We went with the tall mug instead of cup and saucer and added things like berry bowls and dipping bowls. I highly recommend them.

We went through the list of pros and cons and considered all the feedback. So the decision looks like DH and I both want to consider Bone China. It seems to best meet the look and feel and size criteria. In this thread people seem to have recommended the following brands to consider. Any more to add. One thing I am keen on is to keep the size of the dinner plate small. Some of the porcelain ones I saw were rather big at 11-12 inches. Also I am not sure if we want mugs or cups and saucers. We don't really use saucers but the small size plates are useful for appetizers. small snacks etc.

I would not rule out the porcelain by VB - no chips and we use it all of the time. We toss it into the DW.
I agree - the cups and saucers are a total waste - I bet we have only used a couple of them in the past 18 years.

My mother always had Corelle when I was growing up, and while it was very durable, I never liked the *feel* of it. (Too light for me). I didn't love the heavy dinnerware, like Fiesta either. So we ended up with Royal Doulton's "everyday" line when we got married in the late '90s and it is still going strong. We've lost some pieces but only to actual drops, not chips. The pattern has only started fading in the last year. I *think* that was porcelain china, not bone china but the dinner plates don't say for sure. The plates never heat up in the microwave and can go in the oven, fridge, etc. I'm now starting to look at plain white patterns as well for when the new kitchen is done and have looked at Macy's Hotel collection and some of the Williams Sonoma Apilco patterns.

Bellsmom, thanks for the reply. I wondered if you had an inside scoop. The folks at my Macy's store didn't know who made it for them. Doesn't matter. I'm happy, just curious.

GWIolo,
We don't use cups and saucers, so we did the tall mug and only got 6 of them. We have other mugs we use, but may phase them out and switch to more HC.

The round dinner plates in the Hotel Collection are 11.5, but almost 4" of that is rim, so it's not tempting to overload a plate nearly as much as some others I've had. They don't seem too large to me, but you could look at the coupe shape. It is 10.5 inches and the square is 10.75. They have salad plates in both and appetizer plates in the round.

I have nothing against the other brands and am not trying to push MC over them -- I just happen to have that one. I have Villeroy and Boch Naif Christmas and love it. It is not bone china though. It is Vitro porcelain which I believe is vitrified. As I understand it, that is a finer porcelain that is fired at higher temperatures and is stronger than typical porcelain. The finish and feel of it is as good as the bone, but it is heavier. I also have some bowls in another V&B pattern that we got to go with the Hotel set. I looked at Sur la Table, Williams Sonoma and others. For everyday dishes in a "guy house" the Hotel Collection just gave me what I wanted at a price I could live with even over the objections of my sons -- who both wanted to buy more of the stoneware that was breaking. They are getting what was left for college plates. :-)

I said this on the other thread that is linked, but in case you missed it, If you chose Hotel Collection, you should not have to buy it unless it is on sale. If it isn't, it soon will be and usually close to half off.

I've bought the Lenox for wedding gifts -- for two different brides. Nice, nice stuff, but more than I was willing to do for everyday dishes. If they fit your budget, they are less plain and they have the companion patterns that mix with them. I have a cousin who mixed them and I liked them so much I splurged and did more on her wedding gift. ;-)

Some notes:
Bernardaud Louvre is porcelain, made in France. My relatives use daily and it has not worn well, but they are very hard on dishes, so I am not sure this is representative.
Villeroy and Boch Anmut, Cellini are called fine porcelain, fine china, bone porcelain, variously, by the company. My V and B patterns have withstood daily wear for decades (Amapola, Manoir; Germany, Luxembourg respectively), 4 kids, friends, relatives, dishwashers, microwaves, etc. Workhorse dishes!
Apilco is porcelain, France. One poster on Cookware Forum complained his had chipped easily. My only experience is with soufflé dishes and mine look new after regular use for decades.
My Lenox is inherited, gold band, looks brand new, never been in dishwasher or microwave because it predates the dw and mw compatible patterns. It is translucent china. Has had a lot of use for over 60 years.
Most of Wedgwood's patterns, not all, have been manufactured in Indonesia since 2009. My Ashbury and my Strawberry and Vine predate this by decades and are retired patterns. I have no idea how the recent pieces compare, but mine have worn well and look new. They have not received frequent use, however.
We have formal Bernardaud and Raynaud-Ceralene patterns with gold banding. These have never been in dw or mw, but are very delicate and a few show wear on the gold, despite gentle use. The Paris is from the early 1990s and the Marie Antoinette is older.
Personal and anecdotal, but that's all I can offer.

One more note:
If you plan to purchase serving pieces, do look at what is available. There have been patterns I loved, but either the serving pieces had shapes that didn't appeal to me or too few were available, so I nixed the pattern.

Kitchendetective - thanks for the detailed post! I had not thought about serving pieces but I will think about that now. Is the Indonesia manufactured wedgewood not as good?
I also noticed the terms like "bone porcelain", fine porcelain etc. Does that mean thay are not exactly bone china and have the light weight, strong characteric?

If you're only going to have one set of dishes, I agree that they should be small-ish. It encourages us not to pile plates so high, and most everyday meals -- for example, a scoop of casserole -- look kind of lost on a large plate.

IMO, porcelain is the least durable of any dishes I've owned, especially for the price. We have a 12 y/o set of Villeroy & Boch that will chip if you look at it cross-eyed.

Although the BB&B web site tells you that porcelain will go into the oven, DO NOT DO IT. Don't even warm something up in the oven (or toaster oven) on a porcelain pate. The plate will break. Ask me how I know ...

Correlle, on the other hand, is quite durable. We had a set of it at a vacation home and it will go into the oven very easily.

My bone china goes into the DW fine, but I can't put it in the microwave because of the gold edging. It would probably go into the oven, but I haven't tried it.

I love my corelle dishes...have used them for over 30 years and they rarely break...I've had some chip or craze on the edges, but I just take them back to the corning outlet and they replace them for free, no questions asked.

I am considering a slight change of plan. White Bone china for family for everyday use and enough settngs for a 8 person sit down dinner. I will also get serving dishes that I can use. For larger casual parties and such, I will get white corelle. Our parties tend to be casual affairs and I just don't want to use disposable plates anymore. I will probably get 24 dinner sized plates and smaller appetizer sized plates. Hoping to go and check out some of these in person this weekend.

GWolo - Let us know how the bone china holds up
I found some inexpensive dishes to use for parties at World Market - I bought 2 sets of 12 and store them in the basement. I figured that after a couple of parties - I would be in the green.

Cav - wow - I am amazed that your porcelain chips so easily - our V&B is 18 years old without one chip except for the one bowl that we shared in breaking (see above)
They are not oven safe.

@GWlolo - FWIW, I suggest you get a 9th place setting, even if it comes by way of birthday or Xmas wish list gifts. I bought nine place settings of the our V&B and am really glad I did. Some of those pieces now complete eight place settings, after a few breakages. Some were from the learning curve to not put things in oven for warming up, others due to the hazards of daily use ( getting dropped, etc.) Think of it as insurance.

Cavimum,
I am really curious as to which V & B pattern you have and where it was manufactured. I am wondering if the longevity of the porcelain is pattern specific. We have had a few pieces of Audun Ferme for a year or so--can't recall exactly when I acquired them--and they are doing beautifully, so far. That includes mugs, breakfast cups, gravy boat, soup and vegetable tureens. They are labeled "Fine China." I never broke or chipped any Amapola until some pasta bowls were banged directly on stone counter tops, but I don't fault the china for that. I do place the dishes and the bakeware in our warming drawer and the dishes in the microwave. Our Manoir was manufactured in Luxembourg. 8 place settings went with DS1 in his first apartment, were handed down to DS2 in his first apartment, and were returned to me when DS2 traded them for the dishes I had in my first apartment (Bauhaus, and we won't discuss how long ago that was). They still look great and the kids' dishwashers were less than stellar. Still, I agree with getting an extra place setting or two.

I use a set of bone china that is over 30 years old. It was our "good" dinnerware at one time. When we got another set of dinnerware from Crate and Barrel (I had to have those giant pasta bowls) for the good dinnerware, the bone china got relegated to everyday use. It's very sturdy but does chip especially if it bangs up against another plate. I thought that maybe it was starting to chip because it's pretty old and the dishes get put in the microwave often.

That makes sense. Ours was made in Luxembourg as well. I do heat it up in a plate warmer without a problem but not in the oven. As I recall our pattern was pretty expensive. (But less than our good china which does chip)

I once saw a demo for bone china and the high end shop had someone stand on the plate to make a point.

The Amapola is labeled Vitro-Porzellan, (West) Germany; the Manoir Vitro-porcelaine, Luxembourg; and the Audun Fine China, Germany. I talked to a V & B salesperson who said the company is switching the labeling over to Fine China because it sells better that way! So are the three I have actually different? Not sure.

In 1994 I bought a big box of Farberware stoneware at Macy's for about $70 (place settings for 8, plus serving extras). Used everyday, in the DW, MW and oven. Not a single piece has broken or even chipped. Not that these are the finest looking dishes ever, but they certainly have been hearty.

I have three sets of white china. All are porcelain. One set of apilco, one from pottery barn, and one from pier one. I also have multiple serving pieces from pillivuyt. Everything coordinates and works well together. I've had the better part of my collection for over 15 years and entertain extensively. Porcelain is microwave, dishwater, oven, and broiler safe. You can made dishes ahead of time and freeze them and then put them directly in the oven with no consequences. I have some apilco zen shallow soup plates, square with a rim, that i bake crab dip in for appetizers. Everyone thinks I have all the specialty baking dishes that they can not find anywhere, when in reality, they are just my everyday dishes. The pottery barn pieces (PB Modern) have the most wear. I've lost one plate to a crack and one to a chip. Everything else is pristine. apilco is not bone china, it is porcelain. if it was bone china you could hold it up with a light behind it and it would be translucent; meaning that if you wave your hand behind it you can see the shadow in the plate. Just my two cents worth.

Zenix is worth checking out. There are videos available on the web. It is something like a super-Corelle, but the color is a more natural-looking light ivory. I have some and like it. It's made, in France, of an advanced glass that is very scratch resistant and break resistant. It's beautiful and comes both in a traditional line, and in a progressive/artistic/more daring line of designs. Peachsuite.com is a supplier in the US.

I have Corelle too, in a number of patterns. The all-white Corelle (Impressions and Vive) Enhancements are, to my eye, a more appealing look than most of the other Corelle designs (though some of these others are nice as well).

Those who don't like the thinness (I've come to appreciate it) might check out some of the thicker versions. Corelle Ultra, Infinia, Luxe, and Pro were all thicker. So were the restaurant versions of Corelle (Comcor, for example).

Some of Macy's (Hotel, among other) bone china is probably a somewhat more elegant look than any of the above. I feel that using such tableware -- including for everyday use -- raises the level of living for all concerned, and that it is good to have one's family and children and guests using it, and sharing life with high levels of beauty and elegance.

I've used Corelle for many years and about a year ago decided to update to new dishes since I had my Corelle set for 10+ years. Only broke a couple pieces the whole time. We picked up a stone wear set and used them for a couple of months, they are now sitting in a box to give to a friend who also bought the same dishes. The stone wear was so heavy I could only carry a couple plates at a time, my younger children had a harder time using them because of the weight.

We now have a new Corelle set again (plain white) and my only complaint with our new set is how small the bread and butter plates are as well as the regular bowls. The bread and butter plate barely are big enough for a piece of bread where as our old Corelle set the bread and butter plates and bowls are a decent size. I have seen other new Corelle sets with much bigger plates and bowls but did not like the patterns and I like how many other serving dishes.... you can get in the plain white color. I bought the large cereal bowls and we use those for soups as well.

Argh, I am cursed. This post has brought out the dinnerware addict in me. I have my original Johnson brothers rose chintz pattern that has been my every day dinnerware for close to 35years. My DM always set a lovely table and she had Johnson Brothers in the plain white swirl pattern. I have a more formal china pattern for other occasions. I also have vintage Johnson Brothers His Majesty pattern for Thanksgiving. I have Lenox Winter Greetings as a Christmas pattern. I have had Lenox Butterfly Meadows mugs for many years because I love having my morning coffee in a pretty mug. I had another bone china pattern for 8 that I am giving to DD.

When we bought a second home I bought a Martha Stewart pattern that is white with a raised fruit border, it is too heavy so I bought another Lenox pattern that has fruit on it. I swore to DH that I was going to stop collecting dinnerware but honestly I just have a passion for pretty dishes. I just need to buy more pieces of furniture to store it in!

Excited to share that after much deliberation, GW thread reading, and sale price watching, my new everyday dishes have arrived.
I decided to go with bone china, in the hopes that they would prove chip resistant, and grey cutlery mark resistant. I am so sick of those gray lines. I was also inspired that my two sets of pfaltzgraff dishes combined were down to 5 plates and 3 bowls. Comments from the family peanut gallery like 'why dont we ever have plates' pushed me to decision making 'code red'.
I got a great deal at Macy's with a buy 1, get one place setting offer. I got 5 place settings of Lenox, Tin Can Alley 4 and five of Tin Can Alley 7. It also seriously considered Wedgewood Nantucket Basket but it is made in China and the Lenox is made in the US- clincher! The in-store price was less than the on-line price, and in-store still honored the bogo. Plus I got my 15% of macy's card discount. All told the 10 4 piece place settings delivered to my house came in at less than $350- I thought that was awesome. Now I can serve Thanksgiving in style!
Last night we used the new dishes at dinner and it was lovely. The thinness of the china is a delight after heavy stoneware. It looks so pretty, even when dirty and loaded in the dishwasher.
Thanks GW for inspiring, and educating.

I have two sets of Corelle plates and gave away the heavier plates as I love how they stack easily in my cabinets and in the dishwasher. I have the bone color in both the plain and the design around the edges. I like the plain better.